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A contractor is supposed to be a person operating a business that provides services on a contract basis, a contractors business is no different from any other b

A contractor is supposed to be a person operating a business that provides services on a contract basis, a contractors business is no different from any other business that provides professional services. A contractor engages in this work knowing that they are exchanging all of their employment rights for better remuneration. This is how I personally manage to get paid anywhere between $200-$500/hour, and the only person abusing the system here is me taking advantage of companies inability to hire enough permanent staff.

pjerem 5y ago
You, as an experienced adult contractor, can say this. Now imagine being a naive post-teenager being offered to work in "the greatest video game company of all time" but under the sole little condition that you are hired as a contractor. It works with any big name that you would be personally proud to work for. And what is even more saddening is that the more the brand is loved (Nintendo is part of the childhood of basically any today engineer), the more they can abuse those tactics. For a lot of people, working for $BIG_COOL_BRAND is already felt as such a gift that they would sign anything without negotiating. Like everything in life, the older you get, the less you fall in those traps, but that’s not a problem : there is a continuous influx of new people ready to fall for the same tricks.
- barry-cotter 5y ago
  > Now imagine being a naive post-teenager Adult. The word you’re looking for is adult.
  - Sohcahtoa82 5y ago
    While on a literal "definition of adult" level, yes, this is correct, let's not pretend that a 22 year old that likely just finished a degree and wants to work for Nintendo making games has a significantly different mentality than a 16 year old that looks forward to earning a degree and then working for Nintendo making games.
  - EarlKing 5y ago
    That's exactly the word they're not looking for. They don't want to admit that they made poor life choices and paid for them. Once you hit the age of majority you're a functioning adult and you don't get to make excuses anymore. If you make a bad deal then you make a bad deal. The trick is to realize that "bad deals" can be transmuted into good deals with a little spiritual alchemy. In my case I traded roughly a year at Amazon and some Bohemian-style living to make a pile of cash that I'm now pouring into my own business. That option is not for everyone, of course, so in other cases that alchemy simply means trading your time at $SHITCOMPANY for a better job somewhere else. After all: If you have the name of a FAANG on your resume that opens up a lot of doors, right? TL;DR People really need an education in career development, and clearly they're not getting it.
    - munk-a 5y ago
      On whose shoulders does the lack of a good education about labour rights lie on? The individual or the society that values bootstrap-pull-up-ness above all else? People should be allowed to make mistakes in life, that's how we get innovation and economic growth - experiments are sometimes good and sometimes bad. In a lot of cases these new labour market entrants don't have any comprehension of what working actually means. Allowing big powerful corporations to beat up young individuals doesn't benefit society, it entrenches power which tends to lead to corruption. The example you're offering is working for a year at Amazon and tightening your belt a little - a large portion of Americans make just enough money so that they can fall deeper into debt each year while slowly. I, unlike you, worked for a bit at a video game company and also had to tighten my belt... and I managed to save maybe 13k while not drinking or partying or indulging in any luxuries. Your experience was extremely lucky.
      - EarlKing 5y ago
        > On whose shoulders does the lack of a good education about labour rights lie on? Doesn't matter. You only have control over one person: You. > Allowing big powerful corporations to beat up young individuals doesn't benefit society, it entrenches power which tends to lead to corruption. No, it really doesn't, but do you have any control over that? > The example you're offering is working for a year at Amazon and tightening your belt a little - a large portion of Americans make just enough money so that they can fall deeper into debt each year while slowly. That occurs precisely because "a large portion of Americans" buy McMansions they cannot afford, have families they cannot afford, and otherwise spend well beyond their means. They're trying to have the life their parents and grandparents had and they're trying to have it immediately even though economic conditions do not support that. In short: They made bad decisions. > I, unlike you, worked for a bit at a video game company and also had to tighten my belt... and I managed to save maybe 13k while not drinking or partying or indulging in any luxuries. Only? Did you live on your own or with your parents or roommates? Did you have a car or did you use public transportation? And how long is "a bit"? > Your experience was extremely lucky. Luck had nothing to do with it. I don't have a wife and kids. I don't own my own home. I sacrificed having that immediately in order to get ahead. Now that things are beginning to work out for me I can explore the possibility of having a family. That wasn't luck... that was planning.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- AmericanChopper 5y ago
  This applies to any type of employment for a “prestigious” brand, or any other type of “dream job” situation. Any company that has that status can get away with inferior working conditions, because their passionate job applicants find the work rewarding for reasons other than money. This is why the entire video games industry has a reputation for poor working conditions. Absolutely nothing you’ve said has anything at all to do with contracting.
crooked-v 5y ago
> a person operating a business that provides services on a contract basis That's obviously not the case with the contractors described in the story, who are blatantly just direct employees in all regards except with less benefits.
- AmericanChopper 5y ago
  That’s how pretty much all of my contracting engagements work.
  - shadowgovt 5y ago
    You are in a radically different industry from game testing. Game testing is taking advantage of loopholes in contract law and the naivety of a relatively young employee base.
    - AmericanChopper 5y ago
      What loopholes do you think they taking advantage of specifically? Because the article doesn’t describe any. It’s mostly about how they’re treated like “second class citizens” compared to the permanent staff. Which is exactly what contracting is, and exactly how it works for me. In reality, contractors aren’t citizens at all, and not being allowed to use the nice facilities, or eat the free snacks or whatever is just a part of the role. Whether you’re a games tester or anything else.

pjerem 5y ago

You, as an experienced adult contractor, can say this. Now imagine being a naive post-teenager being offered to work in "the greatest video game company of all time" but under the sole little condition that you are hired as a contractor. It works with any big name that you would be personally proud to work for. And what is even more saddening is that the more the brand is loved (Nintendo is part of the childhood of basically any today engineer), the more they can abuse those tactics. For a lot of people, working for $BIG_COOL_BRAND is already felt as such a gift that they would sign anything without negotiating. Like everything in life, the older you get, the less you fall in those traps, but that’s not a problem : there is a continuous influx of new people ready to fall for the same tricks.

barry-cotter 5y ago
> Now imagine being a naive post-teenager Adult. The word you’re looking for is adult.
- Sohcahtoa82 5y ago
  While on a literal "definition of adult" level, yes, this is correct, let's not pretend that a 22 year old that likely just finished a degree and wants to work for Nintendo making games has a significantly different mentality than a 16 year old that looks forward to earning a degree and then working for Nintendo making games.
- EarlKing 5y ago
  That's exactly the word they're not looking for. They don't want to admit that they made poor life choices and paid for them. Once you hit the age of majority you're a functioning adult and you don't get to make excuses anymore. If you make a bad deal then you make a bad deal. The trick is to realize that "bad deals" can be transmuted into good deals with a little spiritual alchemy. In my case I traded roughly a year at Amazon and some Bohemian-style living to make a pile of cash that I'm now pouring into my own business. That option is not for everyone, of course, so in other cases that alchemy simply means trading your time at $SHITCOMPANY for a better job somewhere else. After all: If you have the name of a FAANG on your resume that opens up a lot of doors, right? TL;DR People really need an education in career development, and clearly they're not getting it.
  - munk-a 5y ago
    On whose shoulders does the lack of a good education about labour rights lie on? The individual or the society that values bootstrap-pull-up-ness above all else? People should be allowed to make mistakes in life, that's how we get innovation and economic growth - experiments are sometimes good and sometimes bad. In a lot of cases these new labour market entrants don't have any comprehension of what working actually means. Allowing big powerful corporations to beat up young individuals doesn't benefit society, it entrenches power which tends to lead to corruption. The example you're offering is working for a year at Amazon and tightening your belt a little - a large portion of Americans make just enough money so that they can fall deeper into debt each year while slowly. I, unlike you, worked for a bit at a video game company and also had to tighten my belt... and I managed to save maybe 13k while not drinking or partying or indulging in any luxuries. Your experience was extremely lucky.
    - EarlKing 5y ago
      > On whose shoulders does the lack of a good education about labour rights lie on? Doesn't matter. You only have control over one person: You. > Allowing big powerful corporations to beat up young individuals doesn't benefit society, it entrenches power which tends to lead to corruption. No, it really doesn't, but do you have any control over that? > The example you're offering is working for a year at Amazon and tightening your belt a little - a large portion of Americans make just enough money so that they can fall deeper into debt each year while slowly. That occurs precisely because "a large portion of Americans" buy McMansions they cannot afford, have families they cannot afford, and otherwise spend well beyond their means. They're trying to have the life their parents and grandparents had and they're trying to have it immediately even though economic conditions do not support that. In short: They made bad decisions. > I, unlike you, worked for a bit at a video game company and also had to tighten my belt... and I managed to save maybe 13k while not drinking or partying or indulging in any luxuries. Only? Did you live on your own or with your parents or roommates? Did you have a car or did you use public transportation? And how long is "a bit"? > Your experience was extremely lucky. Luck had nothing to do with it. I don't have a wife and kids. I don't own my own home. I sacrificed having that immediately in order to get ahead. Now that things are beginning to work out for me I can explore the possibility of having a family. That wasn't luck... that was planning.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
AmericanChopper 5y ago
This applies to any type of employment for a “prestigious” brand, or any other type of “dream job” situation. Any company that has that status can get away with inferior working conditions, because their passionate job applicants find the work rewarding for reasons other than money. This is why the entire video games industry has a reputation for poor working conditions. Absolutely nothing you’ve said has anything at all to do with contracting.

crooked-v 5y ago

> a person operating a business that provides services on a contract basis That's obviously not the case with the contractors described in the story, who are blatantly just direct employees in all regards except with less benefits.

AmericanChopper 5y ago
That’s how pretty much all of my contracting engagements work.
- shadowgovt 5y ago
  You are in a radically different industry from game testing. Game testing is taking advantage of loopholes in contract law and the naivety of a relatively young employee base.
  - AmericanChopper 5y ago
    What loopholes do you think they taking advantage of specifically? Because the article doesn’t describe any. It’s mostly about how they’re treated like “second class citizens” compared to the permanent staff. Which is exactly what contracting is, and exactly how it works for me. In reality, contractors aren’t citizens at all, and not being allowed to use the nice facilities, or eat the free snacks or whatever is just a part of the role. Whether you’re a games tester or anything else.